So if some of you are reading this and already know everything about these wrecks, fabulous! I didn’t, so I found it interesting to do the research and add it to my dive report.Friday, 6/30/06
Jet lagged from a red eye in from Portland, Oregon - I met up with Kamala (WreckWench), Dan (Scubatooth), Karen (Scubanurse), Karl (Scubafanatic), Mike (ASDMike), and Gary (Dock). We traveled to Morehead City/Atlantic Beach from Raliegh, NC, stopping for a pulled pork sandwich along the way - ah it's good to be back in the south. Once we arrived, we checked in unloaded and met up with the rest of the gang: Vinny (VADiver), Brian (DiverBrian), Howard (ScubaDadMiami), Manny (MannyDib), Brian (Scubabjs), Bill (OTWDiver), Doris (areisno1), Joe (Vulture), Heather & Julianan - Dan Interns (their bios are featured in DAN's Alert Diver
), and John - our Cochran rep. We headed next door and had Mexican for dinner - hmmmm...I'm in the bunk house with 5 other people. Who's idea was it to have Mexican?? I was the first in bed - I hadn't caught a decent minute of sleep in almost 48 hours. I'm sure debauchery ensued after I left - since I wasn't there I just plan on making up stories later.Topside quote of the day: “Hey! This isn't a beer, this is a taster! How 'come that guy over there got a real beer?” Hey guys, I thought size doesn't matter...
DAY 1 – Saturday, 7/1/06
Our departure time was 6:30am. Most of us got up between 5am-5:30am – to me that was a whopping 2am my time! Holy cow! But who cares!?? It’s all about the diving and you can sleep when yer dead! So with smile on my face I headed to the docks and shared my good morning mood with the other divers! I’m diving NC, baby!
The ride out to the sites is about 2.5 hours as the wrecks are between 25-30+ miles offshore!! I got a tiny bit queasy, but my roommate Joe (Vulture) said he’d hold my hair back if I needed to get sick – aren’t SD roommates great?
Dive 1
The U-352
This was the one wreck I was asked most about when I returned. Even my own Dad knew about this wreck and asked if I got to dive it – mind you he never asks about these things. His comment about me diving? “Nicki, you don’t dive deep than 30’ do you? It’s dangerous” “Um, no Dad”
The U-352 is a 218 foot long German Submarine, Built in 1941. It was sunk April 9, 1942 by a depth charge from the United States Coast Guard Cutter "ICARUS" in a not so simple battle which involved many depth charges, the sub actually surfacing, and the Icarus opening fire on the wounded vessel. 33 crewmembers escaped from the sinking U-352 and 13 went down with the sub. This vessel is reported as the most intact and unique wreck in the area, a “signature dive” in the Morehead City area. The wreck rests on its starboard side in 110 feet of water.
My dive buddy wasn’t wreck penetration certified and I didn’t have a redundant air source, so I stayed outside the sub. To some, it may just be a crusted up tube laying on a bed of sand, but let me tell you it’s still pretty wild looking at a sub lying in the sand! I also had the cool vantage point when my bottom time was done to be right over Vinny (VADiver) and Brian (DiverBrian) as they penetrated the sub. Vinny went right in and Brian, with larger doubles, had to turn turn turn and corkscrew in – it was actually quite thrilling watching them disappear. Even more so when the great white followed them in….ok just kidding. Wanted to see if you kids were still reading.
Dive 2
The USCG SPAR
The SPAR was a 180 foot long Coast Guard Cutter. She was commissioned in 1944 and accumulated an interesting history including traveling to South America to assist in the war effort in support of anti-submarine warfare and later traveling to several Nordic countries before being decommissioned on February 28, 1997. She was then sunk as an artificial reef on June 17, 2004. She sits upright affording divers a fine wreck diving site.
I was one of the first divers to drop onto the site and not far from the anchor I spotted my first Sand Tiger. It was a small juvenile about 3’ long. Did you know they have spots!?? So cool – that simply made my dive.
Evening activities - an excellent dockside BBQ put on by the WreckWench. We had marinated chicken, pork, steak, and salmon (each in a unique marinade – now tell me that’s not service!) together with side dishes that included a wonderful medley of steamed veggies. The dinner entertainment was proivided by Howard (ScubaDadMiami) who explained rebreathers in wonderful detail demonstrating with his personal rebreather!
Topside quote of the day: “My people picked olives!”
